Tuesday 18 December 2012

Gossip Girl: New York, I Love You XOXO (Series Finale) Recap/Review


Hey Upper East Siders, welcome to the last ever 'Gossip Girl' post I'll make. This is because 'Gossip Girl' aired it's series finale this week, 'New York, I Love You XOXO'. I have so many mixed emotions about this episode and I'll try to detail them as I go along but this was seriously the best 'Gossip Girl' episode since season 2. Also, I might have learned Gossip Girl's identity before I actually watched the episode but it was an accident. We begin the final episode right where last week's left off, with Bart Bass' dead body hitting the ground. Georgina is still at the Man of the Year event when she spots security saying that they have a situation, Georgina knows what's going down. Blair and Chuck are trying to escape from the scene of the crime and they do so with the help of Georgina. They call Georgina and have her talk to Chuck's driver while they hide in the trunk of the car. Meanwhile, Serena is trying to flee from New York when she finds Dan's chapter in her luggage, which is the chapter that paints her in a good light. Sage, Nate and Lily all find out about Bart's death on the news while Ivy calls to tell William at the crime scene. Blair and Chuck thankfully get away but the cops stop at The Empire and Blair's apartment to question Nate, Dorota, Eleanor and Cyrus but they all stay quiet. The morning after, we learn that Chuck and Blair are hiding outside of the city in a hotel but Jack Bass figures this out and stops by to question the fugitives. Back in the city, Serena returns to talk to Dan about his positive chapter (might I just say... Trust no bitch, Serena). Whereas, Jack reveals that he had a tracking device on Chuck's limo and that's how he found the couple. When Jack finds out what happened on the roof, he's all in to save Blair and Chuck. He says that they should get married so then they'll have spousal privilege. Blair agrees to this plan but if they weren't forced to then would they ever have gotten married?



Lily comes back from her spa trip to find William waiting for her, he wants to help Lily get through this difficult time. Back with Serena and Dan, she asks him to explain pronto... Flashback time!: Before Serena left for boarding school, Dan was invited to Kati's birthday party. He was amazed by this world and he never wanted to leave. However, Serena was the only one at this party to show kindness to him. The flashback is the show I want to watch which is the kind of show 'Gossip Girl' was in season 1. Back in the present: Serena is touched by Dan's story of their first meeting but she doesn't remember him. At The Empire, Sage and Nate are trying to crack the Gossip Girl mystery when Nate finds out that his name is the only one left on the Spectator loan. Therefore, this is good news for Nate as he's not under Bart Bass' thumb anymore. At a court house somewhere, Jack gets the license for Chuck and Blair to be wed but Chuck knows Blair would never get married here so he whisks her away with a plan in mind.


Jack finds Georgina on the streets of New York and the duo begin to figure out a way for Chuck and Blair to get married with all their family and friends present. I find it weird that Georgina and Jack have never met before, they're the perfect team. In the reception of the van der Woodsen's apartment complex, Ivy arrives to try to take down Lily one final time. She then sees William but he acts as though he has no connection with her, gosh William! When Lily goes to get security, William tells Ivy that he was just using her so he could be with Lily again and it's bye, bye Ivy. Georgina and Jack show up in time to see Ivy be pulled away but Georgina doesn't care about Ivy anymore, she has bigger schemes on her mind. She and Jack are actually here to tell Lily about Blair's wedding plan. Back with Serena and Dan, they talk about the first time Serena became gossip worthy which is when she wore that white dress and it got real wet. Dan overheard a girl say "you're no-one until you're talked about." Serena thinks that Dan then went home and told all this to Jenny, who posted it as Gossip Girl. Although, Georgina breaks up their talk when she tells them about Bart's death and Blair's wedding. Apparently, Dan and Serena have switched off their phones cause they didn't even know Bart was dead. At The Empire, Sage tells Nate that she feels like Gossip Girl is someone Nate's age or younger but she then wonders how Gossip Girl still knew everything after they graduated from high school. Nate tells her that Gossip Girl was so connected that she could be anywhere and still know what's happening back in New York. This makes Sage think that Gossip Girl could be Eric or Jenny, she also reveals that Jenny was an inspiration to her, that makes sense. GG Blast: Chuck is back in Manhattan. Enter Jack to tell Sage and Nate about the wedding. Everyone meets at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (including Chuck and Blair) to discuss how the plan will play out. However, the Gossip Girl brats that you might remember appearing in season 2 and 4 return and spot everyone together so of course they tell Gossip Girl.

Blair's wedding is being held at The Bethesda Fountain where Blair and Serena talk about Dan, then Blair tells her that Dan will never be one of them. Dan overhears them talking about this so he gives the final chapter of his new novel to Nate to publish in The Spectator. This chapter is all about Gossip Girl and it reveals their identity so Nate hands the chapter to Sage so she can type it up and send it out. Although outside, Nate hears the Gossip Girl brats calling the police on Chuck meaning it's a race for Blair and Chuck to get married. Which they do after a very slow ceremony from Cyrus but Chuck gets arrested right at the end. Also, Dan's final chapter goes live with the reveal of Gossip Girl.

After this, many past characters reappear to say how shocked they are about Gossip Girl's identity including Lola, Vanessa, Juliet and Agnes. In addition, Kristen Bell (the voice of Gossip Girl) and Rachel Bilson appear as themselves auditioning for parts in the film adaptation of Dan's 'Inside' novel when they find out the news about who Gossip Girl is to which a confused Bilson says: "Wait!? Gossip Girl is real?" You might have guessed by now but Gossip Girl is Dan Humphrey, in a voice-over he explains the Upper East Side world and why he did what he did. The gang all seem really impressed with Dan but I'm wondering why they're not all mad at him, especially Serena. However, Rufus is a little mad, he comes to see Dan about all this and Dan explains that Jenny knew he was Gossip Girl all along, she also wanted him to post about her sleeping with Chuck so Blair would exile her. Rufus comes around when he agrees with Dan about how Jenny being exiled was the best thing for her. In the other room, Serena comes to Dan's defense when she says that he was as hard on himself as he was on the others and he only posted things because people kept sending in tips. Blair and Chuck then return from the police station and it seems that all charges have been dropped. Blair is also mad with Dan but everyone else is just fine with it now. Blair admits that she thought Gossip Girl was Dorota (me too), Serena thought it was Eric then Rufus but Rufus thought it was Nate, Jack thought it was Jenny. Gossip Girl seems beneath them all now and Blair even says "so I guess it's all over now, that we can all grow up and move on."


5 Years Later... Nate has made it big time with The Spectator and he is also considering becoming mayor of New York. Whereas, Blair and Chuck have there own place with their own son. It seems like a big event is happening at Blair's house, Eric van der Woodsen and Jenny Humphrey have even shown up for this occasion. In this scene we find out that Blair now has her own store, Ivy has sold her story to The Spectator and a movie is being made from it starring Olivia Burke and Lola, Lily and William seem to be a couple whereas Rufus and Lisa Loeb are an item. In addition, Georgina and Jack appear to be dating too. Lastly, we find out that this event is Serena and Dan's wedding. However, there's still time for one last Gossip Girl voice-over to which she says: "You may be rid of Dan Humphrey but you'll never be rid of me. There will always be someone on the outside, wanting to get in. Who am I now? That's one secret I'll never tell. XOXO, Gossip Girl." This was the perfect ending but it felt like this ending should have come at the end of season 3 or 4 and then the show should have gone back to high school with a whole new cast and a new Gossip Girl. Although, I understand that the original cast was contracted for six seasons and the producers might not have wanted to give them up but it would have made the show fresh again if they did it that way. Anyway, this is it everyone, Gossip Girl is finally over and yes that might just be a tear in my eye. Perhaps we'll see our favorite Upper East Siders again but for now it's XOXO.

Overall episode score:-
'New York, I Love You XOXO' = A+

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